


Seven

by sleepy_ramtsun



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Keith-Centric, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2017-05-20
Packaged: 2018-10-21 08:17:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10681362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepy_ramtsun/pseuds/sleepy_ramtsun
Summary: Keith and the seven times he met Lance.





	Seven

**Author's Note:**

> I changed the order of some of the canon scenes in order to suit my writing style...please don't kill me kldfhjdlfh but anyway, I hope you'll enjoy reading :)
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Voltron 
> 
> P.S. If I did, I would have made Klance canon ;)

The first time Keith _met_  Lance, everything exploded into vivid colors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little shades of gray and black and brown sharpened into dizzying focus though initially, Keith chalked it up on the adrenaline wreaking havoc through his veins. That is, considering his current situation.

He had been meaning to rescue Shiro from the military scientist, heaving his dear friend's massive bulk of a body lean on his too slim shoulders before the brunette male interrupted his and he quote, "so-called heroic deed because no way you would steal the spotlight from me again with you and your stupid mullet!"

His eyes flitted over to his other two unknown companions, as Lance wove his arm over Shiro's other shoulder with an irritated grunt, making a split second decision before urging them to follow him.

"I'm Pidge," the petite male (?) introduced offhandedly as he walked beside him, lifting his glasses further up before jerking a thumb over Hunk's nervous frame trailing a little ways behind, "the big guy's Hunk and the annoying chatterbox is Lance."

"Hey! I heard that, you know!"

"G-Guys, maybe we should keep it down..? We're supposed to be inside the barracks after c-curfew and.."

Keith briefly allowed a brief sense of pity towards the obviously anxious male as he was largely ignored. Demerits from disobedience are bound to force them to do communal duties up until they graduate, after all. And running off after curfew and  _then_ being found out that they were in here...

That would be nothing short of expulsion.

"Of course of you would hear that, Lance," Pidge retorted bluntly, "you have a perfectly capable set of hearing ears unless of course, they are deafened by the amount of self-praises you seem to think is true?"

"Pidge!"

Lance complained all the while as they escaped, but for one reason or another, Keith took comfort in hearing his squeaky, high-pitched voice ramble beside him.

"I still can't believe you don't even know my name! We're like  Keith and Lance, neck and neck you know?"

(Keith was sure he would never forget Lance had he met him during his cadet years before he was unceremoniously thrown out. The brunette simply had an aura he couldn't ignore.)

The brunette in question started then to spout some rivalry thing they apparently have while they walked as fast they can, insulting Keith in between breaths in hopes that he would rise up to the dark-skinned male's bait. Keith was slightly proud of himself for last two whole minutes before retorting. Slightly.

But even if Lance did his best to get under his skin, for the first time in Keith's life, he felt his soul begin to smile. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(And when they were whisked off into space without so much as a warning, Keith glad Lance was with him all the while, even when the latter was less than pleased when they were caught in the middle of an intergalactic war and no small amount homesick from being forced not to return to Earth until they defeated Zarkon. Either way, Keith was glad Lance was there.

Was it too selfish?

Morally speaking yes, but what did Keith care? He certai—

Okay.

Maybe Keith did care. He cared. He's not as ruthless as the brunnette likes to make him to be.

But no matter, Lance wouldn't even believe him if he said he cared.

The best he could do is to distract him from his pains, even if it meant making the one true thing he'd like to have for himself dislike him even more with Keith's insults and actions.)

Once, Keith wished they would be friends. Like how Hunk and he seemed to be so close and so trusting of each other that could only be the result of knowing each other for years, like how Lance would attempt to help Pidge in his latest project and only ending up setting the glasses-wearing male far back from his original pace and even then, the other was quick to forgive the bumbling brunette; and also, he wished he would be friends with Lance like he was with Shiro, filled with laughter and with exasperated smiles.

But as always, things don't go as planned.

Oh well.

Keith would take what he can get.

Nothing in his life always went according to plan anyway.

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the second time Keith _met_ Lance, he was furious and just this dangerously close to having tunnel vision. Red tainted his vision in sickening vibrance, as his vision narrowed down on the blue paladin's form.

Keith wondered what was wrong with him.

The grip in his bayard was too tight. Too angry, too stiff, too personally offended.

The last one was probably better off to Pidge and Hunk, and maybe Shiro too, but that wasn't important. Keith would stew on the oddity of his actions later, preferably when Lance was sleeping in a cryopod and they are all back to the castle in one piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right now, he had to focus.

"Hey man," the brunette slurred, voice thick with exhaustion and pain and he swayed to and fro from his position in the middle of the dank detaining cell that smelled too strong of iron and sweat. "I see you're still not losing that ridiculous mullet style of yours."

Scratch that. Keith was absolutely seething.

The red paladin stared at him, taking in every rip, every bruise, every cut and every streak of dull red and brown lining his battered body. His face was layered with grime and dried blood, a worrying bruise blossoming on his left cheek as his lower lip seemed to be abuse beyond relief, swollen and littered with a barely healed cut on the left corner.

He didn't want to see more, noticing the mottled yellow on every exposed part of Lance's skin as his breath hitched. The mark on the brunette's neck looked too much like a hand print, too much like what Keith used to wear like a glorified necklace before he was whisked away into another set of foster parents waiting to make their painful mark on him before he grew up.

By all rights, Lance should not even be standing right now. Much less, even able to form coherent sentences and words, what with the color of the suspiciously large hand-shaped bruise on his neck.

That hand print alone...

"What?" Lance asked, eyes adorably cross-eyed as the other caught him when he crumpled to his knees. "Is there something on my face?"

The way he pouted as he tried to raise his hands up to feel his face and failing fantastically was almost comical to Keith's eyes.

Almost.

The blood and bruises ruined all that for him.

"Just shut up and rest, idiot," Keith sighed, effortlessly swinging the dumbass on his shoulders as he began to trek his way out of Lance's detaining cell. He took great care not to jostle the other paladin too much, knowing first hand the feeling of broken ribs as Lance whined under his breath.

Though, surprisingly for once, Lance listened to him. He obediently hooped his slim arms on Keith's front, knees locking slightly to grip the sides of the brunette as the raven-haired male gripped the other's clothed thighs.

Keith prayed the other wouldn't hear the erratic beating of his heart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Thanks, buddy."

Keith's breath hitched.

He forced himself not to jerk when he felt Lance's weary breath ghosted over the shell of his right ear, suddenly hyper aware of the all too shallow pants and the other's warmth on his back. Shaking his head ever so slightly as he felt Lance's weight get heavier, he radioed the others.

Sleep was probably merciful to him than being awake, Keith idly mused as a crackling sound filled his ears.

"This is Keith. I found Lance." 

"How is he, Keith?" Hunk immediately replied, voice tinged with worry that Keith gritted his teeth. "Is he okay?" 

Red rumbled beneath his thoughts, stopping the torrent of all too familiar flashbacks as Keth recognized the injuries with intimacy born from years and years of experiencing it.

Keith breathed out a heavy sigh. 

Calm down, Kogane.

**Calm the fuck down.**

It took a short moment, before he placed a firm lid on his currently raging emotions.

Patience yields focus, Shiro used to remind him whenever he would get ahead of himself and just be this close to doing something recklessly.

And right now, Keith was grasping at the very last dredges of his patience to focus clearly on the urgent matter at hand instead of giving in to the roar of vengeance towards the Galra as he answered his fellow Paladin.

Patience yields focus.

_Patience yields focus._

Maybe if he repeated it enough, the vengeance (bloodlust) would go away.

Lance getting medical attention is important right now. And Keith will be damned if he will let his own recklessness get in the way of the brunette's recovery.

"Battered," he answered shortly, before softening his voice as Hunk fretted instantly, "but he'll live. Where are the others?"

"I want mama," he heard Lance mumble deliriously from his back, making his stomach twist painfully in spite of himself. "I want to go home. Keith, let's go home. I want home."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

His heart stuttered.

He hoped Hunk wasn't able to pick the brunette's words, or else he would never hear the end of it. Not to mention, he had a feeling Lance wouldn't like it if they knew just how much he misses the rest of his family. It was bad enough Keith knew it, anyway. However accidentally he came across that information, he knew Lance still wasn't comfortable enough to have him know.

Pride was truly a sensitive thing and fortunately for Lance, Hunk wasn't able to hear anything just yet.

Keith silently breathed a sigh of relief.

(He would never admit it to himself but he was glad Lance trusted him enough to tell him about his family whenever he got too homesick at times.)

It's gonna stay between the two of them just a while longer.

"Shiro and I are clearing the rest of the upper floors and Pidge's working on disabling the rest of mainframe. You okay in there, Keith?"

"I'm fine," the raven grunted, unconsciously seeking out Red's presence within his mind to anchor him from everything. "Give us fifteen minutes and I'll meet with you and Shiro."

His Lion grasped back happily, securing him with a protective sense of calm as he absently listened to the yellow paladin's next words.

"Gotcha. Be careful, Keith," Hunk paused, before he whispered, "and take care of Lance too, please. I know you and him aren't in th—"

"Of course I will, Hunk." Keith wasn't heartless as Lance made him to be, you know? "He's safe with me."

"I know. But I can't help but worry."

"We'll get back to you as soon as we can," Keith promised, eyes shifting towards the empty hallways as he cautioustly began his trek out of the Galran warship.

The line ended with a crackle.

"I owe you one," Lance whispered, making Keith blink slight surprise.

How long had he been awake?

More importantly, did he remember what he just said moments ago?

"You owe me nothing," he replied after a moment, confusion evident on his tone as he looked resolutely at everywhere but Lance. "I was only doing what was expected of me."

"Sheesh, way to make me feel bad, mullet head," Lance grumbled, before coughing as he convulsed slightly in pain.

Looks like he didn't.

"Just shut up and rest, dumbass."

"O-Okay," Lance replied weakly, making Keith's heart twinge ever so slightly and forcing him to speed up his walk in spite of the growing burn on his legs.

"Still…thanks."

It's going to be okay.

They're going to be okay.

Lance is going to be okay.

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The third time Keith _met_  Lance, was after the wormhole disaster and he wants nothing more than to cry. 

Everything was too much. 

Too familiar, too painful.

Keith had depended too much on the others and this time, he didn't want to know if that was a good thing or not. 

He knew he had been the last one found after the incident, about three months in total isolation on an uninhabitable hostile planet a little ways away from the Andromeda galaxy (as Hunk graciously told him while forcefeeding him space gunk from his perch on his bed), delirious on equal parts dehydration and hunger when Shiro banged on Red's metal mouth. 

Apparently, he had been in the cryopod for a little over two weeks, the machines working furiously to pump the toxic poison that had discreetly found their way inside the cockpit of his Lion even with Red regulating the air vents with religious zeal. 

He had barely managed to make it, Coran informed him immediately when he first visited. "If it weren't for your admirable immune system, young man," the Altean advisor chortled, patting his back as his moustache twitched upwards. "Then you may have very well become a permanent resident of one of the cryopods!" 

Keith winced at the pain from the alien's gesture and also from the too-cheery tone, scooting away as Coran paced across his bed. 

"Everyone watched you while you were in the cryopod, you know?" he continued offhandedly, twirling his moustache with a slender finger. "Lance had to be ordered to take a shower and eat just so he could get some rest. The boy refused to let you out of his sight, and he would nearly have his way had it not been for Hunk and dear Shiro's efforts." 

Keith blinked. 

Lance...watching after him? 

His self-proclaimed rival watching Keith? 

Impossible. 

"Even I didn't believe it you know?" Coran hummed, seemingly reading his thoughts. "I thought he hated you." 

Keith grimaced at the word. 

Unbidden, the alien then advised him to take it easy before leaving his room after giving his body a thorough once-over, given that he should be feeling the lingering effects of Eumalaë the cryopods hadn't been able to expel. 

"Vomiting, migraines, and raging fever should be enough for the poison to finish running its course. Until then, don't train without supervision. And absolutely no way you are to spar with anyone just yet or in this case, don't fight with Lance!" Coran all-too cheerily before the door closed with a hiss. 

Keith sighed, slumping back into his rumpled sheets as a wave of nausea curled around his stomach.

Lance stayed by him.

If so, then why didn't he visit him when he was awake? 

The raven haired male stared at the white ceiling, before slowly scratching at the clothed area just above where his heart was nestled in. 

"It shouldn't hurt," he whispered, voice barely breaking the silence of the room. 

"It shouldn't so…why…?" 

Keith was used to this after all. 

But did it hurt?

Why...

 

Why did it hurt so much...?

And if Shiro was the one who found him curled up on his side as he scratched gently at where his heart is, Keith didn't care. 

"Why does it hurt, Shiro?" He heard Shiro heave a soft, melancholic laugh as the male sat on the edge of his bed.

"Love always hurts, Keith. You can't call it love if you don't feel pain." 

"Then how do I make it stop?" 

"You just have to learn to let him go." 

But Keith was selfish from the start. 

He could never do what Shiro told him. 

He can't. 

Not Lance. 

And when Shiro frowned at him in disapproval when he started goading Lance into sparring with him as soon as he was able to get out of bed, Keith was much inclined to ignore.

"I bet you can't even lift your bayard up right now, you stupid mullet!"

His head twinged painfully, nearly causing him to double but he hid it with a cocky smirk that he knew would definitely annoy the Blue Paladin.

"Oh yeah? Then how about a spar to prove your sorry ass wrong!"

"You're on!" 

He had made his bed, and he has to learn to lie on it now.

* * *

 

The fourth time Keith _met_ Lance, he made a wish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe just this once, his heart whispered longingly as he celebrated his birthday (without anyone even knowing) after everyone had went to sleep. 

A box of matches and a lighted candle littered his small table, the absence of any food glaringly clear as the raven haired male stared at the flickering flame. 

Just this once...

Just...

 

 

 

 

 

 

this...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

once...

Keith will be truly selfish for himself.

 

* * *

 

The fifth time Keith _met_  Lance, iron and red nearly overwhelmed him.

Voltron was barely saved from the Galra's hands.

Shiro was out of commission and Lance took a hit meant for Coran.

Everyone was doubting everything and doubting everyone else.

And Keith…

Keith only wanted one thing.

He wants his home back.

_His heart wants Lance to be back._

 

* * *

 

The sixth—

Keith watched as Lance looked too painfully loving at Allura, the latter entirely oblivious to the former's affection as Lance hovered around her.

Pidge snorted from beside the raven haired male.

"When will he realize that Allura doesn't love him back?"

His heart gave another painful twinge as Pidge's wonder gained no answer.

 

* * *

 

 

Keith _met_  Lance in a total of seven times.

And this...

This is the last time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Keith _met_  Lance for the seventh time, happiness embraced him tightly as colors danced around with stunning vividness just like when they first met. 

Victory was finally in their grasp, only that Keith wouldn't be around to enjoy it for long. Haggar was disabled, Pidge being the one to finally capture the druid for the last time as Shiro and Hunk teamed up to fight Zarkon. And Lance…

Iron tasted heavily in his mouth, as his lips curled into a small, small smile. The pain gnawed achingly in his abdomen, as he met Lance's bright, bright eyes that immediately widened with horror when he saw him across the hallway.

"KEITH!"

His howl was enough to stun the one who stabbed him long for him to separate their head off of their necks, as the brunette stormed his way through him with desperation Keith could only associate with people who loved someone too much to let them go. 

People that wasn't and never will be Keith. A brief sliver of confusion raced through his muddled brain.

Does…does that mean Lance loved him like he loved the rest of the paladins and Allura and Coran? But didn't he say he hated him because they were rivals?

Keith was suddenly too tired to think much of it.

He coughed out crimson liquid, closing his eyes as he stumbled forward, bayard slipping from his numb arms and clattering noisily on the metal floor. But Lance caught him just in time before he met the same fate as his sword had been, forcing his legs to kneel and making his eyes flutter open blearily to stare at Lance's horrified face.

"H-Hey, hold on for a moment, buddy. We're gonna get out of here, okay? No, no, don't close your eyes. Open those prettly little eyes, mullet. PIDGE GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE AND COVER FOR US NOW!"

So noisy.

"No, no, no, no. You're not going to sleep until we get back home okay? Stay awake for me, Keith. Come on, buddy. Stay awake. Look at me."

Home.

When did Keith have a home he could stay for long?

Keith sighed, tilting his head forward to bump against the brunette's forehead, smile never fading even as dark blurred the corners of his eyes. The pain faded into a pleasant numbness, as he stared at Lance's terrified face with calmness he didn't consciously possess.

Why is he afraid?

 

"Lance..."

"No, you don't get to do that last word thing because I—" Lance was hysterical, lips trembling as he tried to move him so that they can walk until Keith cried out in sheer agony, forcing the brunette to drop them back on their knees as he whispered apologies while shakily resting his hand on Keith's hair. "I…I still have to, shit, I still have to tell you something so please. So please..."

Why is he begging? 

"Please," Lance choked, head bowed as he reconnected their foreheads once more. "Don't….Don't leave. Don't leave m—us, Keith. Stay awake for us. Please."

Where had all his arrogance went? 

But Keith had to assure him.

They can find another replacement, and Keith's okay with that. He had to tell them to find another in case Zarkon managed to survive against Shiro and Hunk.

"Lance…" Keith slurred, forcing himself to peer at those blue eyes one last time, as his smile curved into something tender, something closer to what he wished for once upon a time.

Maybe, just this one time, he would do this.

"Thank you…" he whispered, voice a little too quiet and a little too flat, but the meaning was painfully clear.

A thank you for being his friend.

A thank you for being his family.

But most of all, Keith uttered a thank you for allowing him to have a home.

He pressed his mental bond with Red for the last time, feeling the ancient sentient being purr as he felt Red's pride and happiness for him being her Paladin even when she expressed her disapproval at having Keith be the lone one who will distract the Galra while the others take out the rest of Zarkon's trusted forces. Reluctant grief lingered in the Lion's feelings, as she slowly began to pull away from the dying human. Impulsively, Keith mentally squeezed their bond as a surge of warmth and affection flowed through him one last time. An answering rumble was the last thing he heard, as Red set out to complete the one last thing her Paladin had requested for her. One she wasn't obligated to do but chose to do so out of love and admiration.

Keith's heart smiled.

He had been good. 

Sadness and pain trailed behind their bond as it faded, the raven haired male gurgling out more blood as a snapping sound echoed hollowly in his mind before everything settled into unfamiliar silence.

No more Red, devoid of the barely there buzz in the back of his mind that became louder everytime they bonded. No more of that achingly intimate bond he began to thought of as family. No more of the teasing nudges and gentle caresses when everything became too much.

Against his will, pain pinpricked at the corner of his eyes as he shuddered.

Vulnerable. Weak.

Tears threatened to fall while his vision blurred, his heart stuttering out a silent longing to feel Red's presence once more as emptiness suddenly threatened to overwhelm him.

No.

He has to say it.

He has to say he wasn't a Paladin of Voltron anymore. They have to find a replacement for Red.

He has to...

Goddamnit he has to!

"Find…'nuther paladin," he managed to choke out, eyes blurred with tears he must not shed. "Red...I broke…bond…find…someone else…"

He has to say goodbye to his home.

To say goodbye to…to Shiro, Pidge, Hunk, Lance, Allura and Coran.

Keith has to say it.

"No…Keith don't do this, please," the proud, so, so proud brunette begged, hands clutching his face with aching gentleness as Keith blinked sluggishly at him in confusion and surprise when crystalline tears made its way down his beautiful face. "Goddamnit Keith you're going to be okay. No one's going to replace anyone, okay? You're supposed to be the Red Paladin!"

Lance shouldn't cry.

He should be happy now.

He can go back to Earth now that Zarkon won't be around to threatened his family anymore.

"But we won," he rasped painfully in reply, smile barely wavering as he closed his eyes in spite of Lance's attempts and his voice growing fainter, "and you're going back…to your…family now…"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

His name was Keith Kogane.

An honorary member of Voltron, the Defender of the Universe and (former) Paladin of the Red Lion. 

And this red paladin only had one wish.

Only one.

He wished...

He wished…

He wished everyone would remember him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, Keith mused as his consciousness finally gave in to permanent oblivion.

He wished everyone would remember him, or build him a nice funeral he supposes.

In that nice little desert shack that he stumbled upon on when he was expelled from flight academy, where everything started.

Where he found his home.

_Remembered._

Keith wished they would remember him, or at the very least, give me a nice funeral.

Silence deafened his ears, as he took a deep, shuddering breath for the last time.

A tear fell from his eyes, before he finally...finally lets go.

 

* * *

 

Once upon a time, Keith _met_ a boy named Lance.

He _met_ him in seven different ways.

The first time Keith _met_ Lance, colors exploded in brilliant, vibrant shades.

Keith wanted him to allow the raven haired male to be part of his home.

And the last time Keith _met_ Lance, he wants nothing more than to be finally, finally remembered by the people he considered as family.


End file.
